Name : Jinushki Saluwadana

Index No : AS2018317

Consumers’ Knowledge and Use of Food Labeling Information in Sri Lanka

The globally accepted definition of a food label, according to Agarwal, is any tag, mark, pictorial, or other descriptive text, written or printed, attached to a pre-packaged food container. They are the first informative tool found by the customers during shopping, and are informative in terms of ingredients, nutrient content, and the presence of allergens of the selected product. However, food labeling also represents a marketing tool and may influence perception of the food quality and, in turn, the dietary choice of consumers. For this reason, there is growing research in the food labeling field and in the evaluation of its effects on consumers, food operators, and the whole market.

Exploratory Analysis

This study was conducted to evaluate the consumers’ level of knowledge and use of information provided on food labels in making purchasing decisions. A structured questionnaire-based survey was used for the purpose of the study. This is a cross sectional study done over a period of five months from October, 2010 to March, 2011 with an average of seven interviews being conducted each week. The survey was conducted at supermarkets, retail shops of various sizes in five towns: Colombo 02, Kottawa, Maharagama, Nugegoda and Horana in Sri Lanka. A total of 586 respondents were considered for the study.

Data summary

Name	foodlabel
Number of rows	586
Number of columns	20
_______________________
Column type frequency:
character	19
numeric	1
________________________
Group variables	None

Variable type: character

skim_variable	n_missing	complete_rate	min	max	empty	n_unique	whitespace
Gender	0	1	4	6	0	2	0
Education	0	1	6	10	0	5	0
Employment	0	1	7	10	0	5	0
marital	0	1	6	7	0	2	0
fshopper	0	1	2	3	0	2	0
mplanner	0	1	2	3	0	2	0
easy	0	1	9	20	0	5	0
familiarity	0	1	9	20	0	5	0
friends	0	1	11	14	0	2	0
Useful	0	1	5	9	0	6	0
Easiness	0	1	5	9	0	6	0
Sufficient	0	1	5	9	0	6	0
Trusfulness	0	1	5	9	0	6	0
Clear	0	1	5	9	0	5	0
netquan	0	1	11	43	0	3	0
low in fat	0	1	10	37	0	4	0
low in cho	0	1	10	45	0	4	0
sodium	0	1	10	18	0	4	0
e labels	0	1	2	3	0	2	0

Variable type: numeric

skim_variable	n_missing	complete_rate	mean	sd	p0	p25	p50	p75	p100	hist
Age	0	1	40.61	11.64	16	32	38	51	74	▂▇▃▅▁

Composition of the Sample

1. Major food shopper of the household

   Table 01:

fshopper	n	percent
No	171	0.292
Yes	415	0.708

2. Major food shopper of the household

Table 02:

mplanner	n	percent
No	150	0.256
Yes	436	0.744

3. Major food shoppers & meal planners

Figure 01:

4. Meal Planners and Food Shoppers by Gender